Never The Same
by Nesserz
Summary: Harry finds Luna out on the Hogwarts grounds. Cloud watching. In the middle of winter. In the snow. Without a cloak.


**Never The Same** -- Nesserz.

A/N: _Just a little something I put together. I haven't written Luna in great detail before and I thought I'd try my hand at writing her in a scene with Harry. So, let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy this little one-shot of Harry and Luna. Separately. Friendly._

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Harry pushed open the castle doors roughly and walked down the stone steps, crunching his way through the fresh snow that had fallen during the night. He shoved his hands in his pockets and was making his way towards the lake when he saw her. He had to look twice to make sure that he was seeing correctly.

There she was, Luna Lovegood, lying in the snow without so much as a cloak on. He debated walking in the opposite direction or going over to talk to her. He had just taken a step in the opposite direction when she sat up and looked directly at him.

"Hello Harry," she said, lifting her hand in a vague sort of wave. Harry returned the wave, and curious as to what she was doing, walked over to her and stood over her, hands still in his pockets.

"Luna - Hi," he said as he stood there, feeling rather awkward and unsure if he should ask her what she was doing lying in the snow when it was below freezing outside. She seemed to have read his mind anyway.

"I'm cloud watching," she said, lying down again and pointing skyward. Harry looked up at the bright white clouds where bits of blue sky were poking through, lighting up the Hogwarts grounds nicely.

"So I see," Harry said as he shuffled his feet, and absently wondering why he was bothering, shrugged out of his cloak and offered it to Luna who took it as she sat up once again.

"What's this for?" she asked, blinking up at him.

"Er. It's kind of...cold out here Luna, you'll freeze."

"Oh not at all, I placed a heating charm on the ground. You can keep your cloak, though I admire the thought, thank you. Would you like to join me. I can warm you up a spot if you'd like," she asked him, drawing out her wand from behind her ear.

Harry smiled. "Sure Luna, that'd be nice," he said as he sat upon the newly warmed snow, mildly surprised that it didn't melt. "So, have you spotted anything interesting yet?" he asked her, settling down with his arms behind his head.

"Don't you see them? There's an army of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks right there," she said gesturing to a group of clouds Harry would have said at a guess looked like nothing more than a particulary plump cloud.

"Oh--oh sure, yeah, I see them,"

"You shouldn't lie you know," she said airily, not looking at him. Harry looked at her however.

"It's not hurting anyone,"

"It could have hurt me, you don't know that. You should never assume you aren't hurting people by lying to them. People deserve the truth," she said, folding her hands across her stomach.

"What if lying softens the blow of something terrible? Wouldn't it be better to lie?" Harry asked her, staring skywards again.

"Initially it may help a little, but it hurts more in the end to know you've been lied to and you always find out. Lies always come unstuck,"

Harry and Luna sat in silence for a few minutes, each idly pointing out oddly shaped clouds as they floated past.

"You'll defeat him you know," she said matter of factly, (after she pointed out a Thestral to Harry) as though she could see into the future, though, Harry mused, it wouldn't surprise him if she said she could.

"You think so?" he asked instead, packing a small amount of snow in his hands into a tight snowball.

"Of course. It's just one of those things isn't it? The sun rises every day, Nargles are ever on the increase, you'll defeat Lord Voldemort, I--"

"You said his name," he said, before he could stop himself.

"Should I not?" she asked, her eyes widening even more.

"A lot of people are afraid to say his name," Harry said, wondering how she didn't know this.

"Well those are the people aren't me," Luna said shrugging, saying something particularly adolescent like for once.

Harry couldn't help himself; he laughed loudly, his voice echoing strangely around the empty grounds. "No, they're certainly not Luna,"

"What do you mean by that?" she asked curiously, looking at him unblinkingly, something which Harry found rather unnerved him.

"Nothing bad, it's just that...you're so different to most people Luna, your ideas are different and you don't care what other people think of them. It's a refreshing change from everyone who is so afraid of the times we're facing."

"Well we have you don't we? They have nothing to worry about."

"You're awfully optimistic," Harry said, feeling the weight of what he had to do, settling upon his shoulders once again.

"It's snowing," Luna said, upbruptly changing the subject, though Harry wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose like his friends often did, or it was just coincidence.

"So it is,"

"Did you know that no two snowflakes are the same? Much like how things will be after the war I suppose; never the same,"

_So much for a change of subject_, Harry thought to himself.

"No, I suppose they won't be the same," Harry said, realising that he hadn't ever really thought about 'after the war.'

"They'll be much better I suppose."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Harry asked, confused.

"Oh yes, it is. But I imagine things won't be nearly as interesting." she said as she sat up and smoothed out her skirt and sat and looked at Harry. "It's been nice talking to you Harry, we don't do it very often," she stated, her lips curving into the smallest of smiles, but Harry knew it was one of gratification.

"You're right Luna, we don't talk nearly enough. It's been...enlightening,"

"I'm glad you've enjoyed it. Perhaps we should do it again soon?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him in question.

"Yeah, yeah - I'd like that, thanks," he said, standing to leave as Luna handed him his cloak back, though she hadn't used it. He took this as a sign that she wanted him to leave.

"Goodbye Harry and goodluck," she said, a look on her face that Harry took to be one of sincerety. He nodded his head at her and turned to leave.

Harry may not have been able to see what Luna had, but he hoped against hope that her faith in him rang true. Knowing that he could count on at least Luna to never change, he walked back to the castle, hands in his pockets, a renewed smile upon his face, all thanks to the girl who he was sure was still lying in the snow.

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_Fin_


End file.
